The Savior
by JadynJeroux
Summary: What happens when Jason Gideon's adult daughter, SSA Avangeline Gideon, becomes the center of the team's newest case? Set during Season 6, a romance for Reid! O.C.
1. Chapter 1

Walking through the double glass doors of the BAU, Reid expected today to be like any other. He flung his grey pea coat over his desk chair, and had only just set his coffee down when Hotch called from his office that the team needed to report to the bullpen. He hopped up the stairs to the bullpen, Morgan catching up with him on the way.

"Hey Reid, ready for another slaughter fest?"

Spencer allowed himself a morbid chuckle as they entered the bullpen together.

Hotch stood at the front of the table, holding a remote control.

"Now, this is a little unusual for us. We've been receiving photographs over the last few months. They're all of the same woman, but we've never been able to get a fix on the sender's location. Until now."

"No offense, Hotch, but isn't this sort of thing more suited for, I don't know, the police?" JJ asked.

"It normally would be. If it was ever reported. But no complaint has ever been filed about this, which leads us to believe the woman has no idea she is being watched. And, there is, of course, the matter of who she is." Hotch paused. "Her name is Avangeline…Gideon."

A general silence permeated the room as the shock subsided.

"As in…Jason Gideon?" Asked Prentiss.

"She's his daughter."

"Did anyone even know he had a daughter?" Asked JJ. She simply received looks from the rest of the team.

At that moment, Garcia conference-called in.

"Good morning my darlings, I have for you the stats on this very special case. Her name is Avangeline Gideon. She's 24 years old, just finished up her FBI training and degree in Behavioral Analysis and Media Psychology at Georgetown. No doubt she was headed right here to the BAU. Sending over the pictures we received from the unsub."

A series of photos flooded the big screen at the head of the table, each photo complete with its own message.

"She's…" Morgan started.

"Gorgeous." Prentiss finished his sentence.

"Unnaturally beautiful." Reid chimed in, once he recovered from the shock of Gideon having a daughter that looked like _this._

Before them was a gorgeous young woman, seemingly unaware of being watched. Stepping into a cab, ordering coffee at an outdoor café, reading a book in the park, even a close-up of her asleep. She had pale, pristine skin like a china doll, a naturally rosy complexion, with wide, doe-like green eyes that sparkled like the wild sea. Her hair was a dark brown and cascaded in perfect wave-curls down to the middle of her back. In one of the pictures, she bit her bee-stung lips as they flooded with natural color, and Spencer felt his mouth going dry again.

The messages accompanying the photos ranged from "Sleep sweet while you can, darling princess, soon you'll be all mine." To "don't make me return her to her mother. Ashes to ashes, so the angel will return to the earth."

"The messages are contradictory. He expresses a love for her, calls her 'darling princess', but then he threatens her life." Rossi pointed out.

"Yes, well we've got an address now, so Reid and Prentiss, why don't you go to Gideon's house and talk to her, that is, if she's still safe." Hotch ordered.

"Um, I don't think that's necessary." JJ pointed out. The team followed her gaze to the main section of the BAU. Through the glass windows of the bullpen, the team saw the exact woman from the photographs, walking through their office, alive, healthy, glowing even.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**I forgot to do the disclaimer thing at the beginning of the last chapter, so here it is: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the characters on the show. Thank you for reading!**

Through the glass windows of the bullpen, the team saw the exact woman from the photographs, walking through their office, alive, healthy, glowing even. She turned more than a few heads on her way in, she bumped into a man while she had her head buried in a file, and smiled sheepishly as she apologized in the most charming way. She waltzed up the stairs and knocked lightly on the door before coming in.

"Hi, I'm…"

"Avangeline Gideon." Hotchner answered.

"Oh, yeah, but, um, no one calls me that. Except maybe my Dad, and hardly even him. I'm Ava. I've been assigned to your team. " She just then noticed the pictures on the screen. "What are _those?"_

As she was filled in on the situation, her doe-like eyes slowly glazed over. A silence permeated the empty space after Rossi and Hotch finished talking. Her lovely, melodic voice slowly came out, almost like a whisper.

"Is this a joke? A 'Welcome to the BAU' prank? Yay! It's your first day of freakdom!?"

"I'm afraid not." Reid slowly answered. These were the first words he said to her. _In her time of need, while she's scared about the freak that's stalking her, you couldn't come up with anything better? Nice going, Doc._ Reid silently yelled at himself.

Ava's eyes met Reid's for the first time. And for just a second, she felt safe. There was a kind of honesty behind those hazel eyes that made her feel secure. And she didn't even know his name yet.

"Hotch was just saying that we should go check out the address of the sender." Morgan offered.

"Maybe you should head home for the day. If the UnSub thinks you're on to him, it may change his behavior, and we can't risk that right now." Hotch gave her his first order.

"Agent Hotchner, with all due respect, I came here to do a job, not to get shoved into the back of some dark-windowed Suburban to be sheltered. I've had enough of that. I don't want any special treatment because of my father." Ava asserted. Hotch was immediately taken aback by her gumption…as was the rest of the team.

"With all due respect, Agent Gideon, I am in charge of this team, and I say you are not coming. Stay here and do research with Reid."

"Yes, Sir." Ava somewhat begrudgingly answered.

The team filed out, one by one, to their respective jobs concerning Ava's case, and Reid and Ava were left together at the oblong desk.

"He's not all bad." Reid offered a weak smile. "Hotch. He's fiercely loyal, which is widely accepted as a trait to be admired, but sometimes he comes off a little rough. Anything he does, he does for the good of the team, and in this particular case, for your own personal safety. Though I admire your guts." _God, you're such an idiot. Rambling on again, you're going to terrify her on her first day!_

"I don't think he's bad at all. In fact, I like him. I'd like him a lot better if he stopped pretending he hadn't devoured my file dozens of times. He knows I'm more than qualified to be in the field. But I appreciate you pleading his case just the same." Ava responded. She liked his easygoing manner, and the way he talked too fast was just all the more charming. Just then, one of the photographs caught her eye.

"Wait, this photograph…the UnSub's been watching me practically my entire life." Laying in front of them was a photograph of Ava as a child, playing at the beach, Jason Gideon in the background. The message stated "Some say she was born of the sea."

"That would actually suggest that this isn't really about you, it's about who you came from. Your father. The UnSub's probably been following your father's career for years, but his retirement was probably the stressor that caused the UnSub to mess up, which then allowed us to get his address." Reid meant this to come out comforting, but to his dismay, it sounded more clinical than friendly.

"But what about these messages? "Born from the sea?" "Her mother?" "Angel?" They don't add up."

"Yeah. Sometimes these things don't add up right away though. Sometimes you just have to find the right puzzle piece to make it all…fit." Reid was speaking in a friendly manner, but the way she looked at him made him pause before finishing his sentence. It was like she was staring right through to his deepest, most secretive thoughts and feelings.

Ava took a second to clear her throat. _Focus, Ava, it's your first day. There are bigger issues at stake than your new coworker._ "My mother died in childbirth." _Well that must have sounded awfully random._

"I'm sorry. I guess that complicates the "mother" messages."

"Guess so."

Just then, Reid's phone rang. The caller ID alerted him that it was Hotch calling.

"Reid, I'm going to need to send you on a different kind of job."

"Okay…? "

"I'll fill you in on what we found later, but I need you to be Ava's new security detail. 24/7, I mean it."

Hotch was on speaker phone, and when Ava and Reid heard Hotch's words, they just stared at each other with a shocked expression.

"Hotch, I'm sure Ava is more than capable of fending for herself." Reid attempted to defend her, which earned him a grateful smile.

"Reid, that's an order." Hotch hung up the phone before he could get anymore backlash.

"So…your place or mine?" Ava asked innocently.


	3. Chapter 3

**I own nothing!**

"You know, I actually liked Hotch when I walked in the door. I didn't even mind that much when he chained me to the desk. But this," Ava paused, "this is just crazy!"

Ava had been pacing the room since Hotch called, trying to figure out what could possibly be so bad that it forced her to have a bodyguard with her at all times.

"What if it's not about the case?" Ava stopped.

"What? What do you mean it's not about the case?" Reid questioned.

"Well, I mean, I just walked in those doors today and changed your team. Do you think Hotchner just doesn't trust me?" Ava slowed down, pulling her arms around her body, bracing herself for the answer she thought she already knew.

"What? No! Well, it takes Hotch a while to trust people, but I don't think that's what this is about, Ava." Reid offered, trying to calm her down. She was obviously trying not to betray her nerves, but he could sense them even so. They were silent for a few minutes, but they didn't mind the comfortable emptiness. They both needed time to think about how Reid would be moving in with a woman he had only known for 8 hours, and Ava how the UnSub must have some sort of gun collection named after her.

When Morgan and Hotchner had found the UnSub's apartment, a trashy one bedroom, they found much more than they were expecting. They knocked on the door gruffly, and when there was no response they used that warrant they had gotten from a judge. Morgan broke down the door, and as soon as they stepped inside, their jaws dropped. The entire apartment was covered, ceiling to floor in photos of Avangeline. Life-size photos, cut-outs, her face plastered on posters. There was even a Madame Tussaud- style wax figurine of her. She was clothed in a Grecian-style toga, a golden crown wrapped in flowers placed delicately over her cascading curls. She was leaning on a futon, her arms delicately placed underneath her chin, eyes sultry and enticing, her lips slightly parted. The place was a shrine to her. And the photos ranged from her as a baby to present day. Instead of wallpaper, the UnSub had Ava.

The apartment, however, had been abandoned. _Just our luck_, they thought. At least they had the entire apartment full of evidence, but obviously no UnSub. Morgan flipped open his cell phone to call Emily.

"Hey, Em. You're gonna want to get down here. Bring Rossi. We need all the hands and eyes we can get to sort through this mess. Just, uh, don't mention anything to Ava, okay? Reid either."

"What am I even supposed to bring? I've never…moved in with…anyone before." Reid stammered. He didn't know why he was treating this like taking the next step with his girlfriend. He tried to remind himself he was her bodyguard, not boyfriend. Bodyguard, not boyfriend. This would be his new mantra.

"I don't know. Think of the top ten things in this world you couldn't live without, and take those. Besides, l live 10 minutes from here, you can always come back." Ava suggested as she ran her slender fingers along Spencer's coffee table, the pile of books he had been devouring earlier. They were at his apartment packing. She was having a hard time believing all this was happening. She needed a minute to just sit down and breathe.

"I'm so sorry, Reid." She whispered.

"What? Why?" He asked, his voice filled with concern. He came and sat next to her on his dark brown leather couch. He knew she was guarded, with what she was going through, he thought he might judge her if she wasn't guarded. He saw her bottom lip quiver just the slightest bit as her words came out.

"I just waltzed into your office this morning, and now you're having to put your entire life on hold to take care of me. And the rest of the team, they could be solving crimes and helping people who really need them, stopping future murders. But they can't. Because of me." She bit her lip as her eyes filled with tears, the result of the stress of the day. But she refused to let a single tear spill. Avangeline Gideon does not cry in front of people.

"No, no," was all Reid could whisper. Normally Reid was awkward when it came to physical contact, but for some reason, she was different. He suddenly felt an urge stronger than anything he had felt before, the need to protect. Without thinking, he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him, guarding her body with his.

It took all of Ava's willpower not to give in and let the tears spill over. Spencer was holding her so close, and for the first time all day, she felt safe. She inhaled deeply his naturally masculine scent, musky autumn leaves mixed with something else she couldn't quite identify. She just wanted to stay here in his arms, where she was safe, her head buried in his chest.

Reid stroked her hair aimlessly, her hair smelling sweet of vanilla and lavender. He let himself be dangerously close to her, something strictly against the rules with a victim. Although, she's not really a victim, she's on his team. Reid tried to reassure himself as he let his lips linger on the top of her head. Her tiny arms were wrapped around his waist, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Ava cleared her throat and willed her eyes to open. "We better get to my place, we still have to set up the security system and get you moved in."

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for reading, please review! I do not own Criminal Minds or any characters on the show. **

"This is…not what I was expecting." Emily said as she walked into the UnSub's shrine to Ava.

"How long would it take to accumulate this much stuff about one person?" Rossi asked.

"This is one time I wish Reid was here to say 'Statistically speaking…'." Morgan joked.

Morgan, Hotchner, Rossi and Prentiss made some coffee and prepared themselves for another long day of sorting through the mess.

The team had been forced to put off Ava's case for almost a month as they were desperately needed in Colorado for a serial killer's case, and she had insisted upon going. They were finally back and resuming their proceedings on Ava's case. In the meantime, Ava and Spencer had been practically inseparable. They both tried their best to act professionally, but around a team of profilers, it was hard to hide their spark. Even Hotchner, usually the most ignorant when it came to romantic connections, noticed them eyeing each other from across the room. And everyone noticed when Ava and Spencer were supposed to be working on a sketch of the UnSub, but they had made a sketching center on the carpet instead. They were both leaning with their backs on the wall, and Spencer had just passed Ava an awful sketch that looked like it had been drawn by a four-year old. Without thinking, she let out her infectious laugh, which brought out a rare chuckle from Spencer as well. Just then, the team peeked over the desk at the two on the floor with suspicious looks, and Spencer quickly clapped his hand over Ava's mouth as she secured it with her own, slinking further into the ground with faux shame.

They were finally back in D.C., working cases, and nothing new had come of Ava's case, so while the team was still sorting through the UnSub's apartment on the side (Ava found out about it eventually,) they had to work on other cases. Reid was still living at his own apartment, as there seemed to be no immediate danger to Ava.

But then a new case opened up, and the victim turned out to be an old professor of Ava's. On the wall in the professor's blood was written "I'm getting impatient." The team immediately saw the connection to Ava, and tried to shield her from the news for as long as possible, but Reid already knew. And he couldn't keep secrets from her, in the past two months she had practically become his best friend and the lov…_no, don't go there. _He thought as he walked over to her desk, right across from his.

"Hey, do you want to take a walk with me?" Spencer asked. "It looks like you could use a break from all this." Ava smiled gratefully through her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes. Spencer couldn't help but think how cute she looked in those. She had her hair thrown up in a messy ponytail, and was wearing a simple shirt and scarf combo. Picking up her coat, she headed outside with Spencer. They walked in comfortable silence for a while among the autumn trees. They finally found their favorite bench near the park and sat down.

"Okay, shoot. I know something's wrong, Spence. Just tell me." She said.

_How am I supposed to do this? She's such an innocent. Just look at those eyes. _Reid thought as he contemplated telling her the news. He was too distracted by a wisp of hair that had come loose around her face and was now dancing in the wind.

"Ava," he faltered, looked down at his hands, and knew he had to continue. "There's been a murder. It's…your old college professor."

Ava looked down, forcing the tears away. She bit her bottom lip and cursed it for being weak and betraying her. She cleared her throat and tried to speak. "It's..ehm, it's him, isn't it?" she asked. She knew Reid was the one person in all this she could always count on for the truth. He just nodded, unable to meet her eyes.

"I'm sorry." He uttered, barely a whisper. "It's not your fault, you know. There's nothing you could have done…"

"But it is my fault! If I wasn't being stalked, he would still be alive!" She let out in frustration. Ava stood up, and Reid felt powerless to stop her.

Ava pushed open the sturdy door of her apartment in frustration. She lived in a historic brick building in Old Town Alexandria, just outside of Washington D.C. She loved the Old Town's history, but tonight it just felt like the walls were trying to suffocate her. She finally just kicked her door and stumbled in. But instead of finding a cold, lonely apartment like she was expecting, she found a warm, fire-lit home. Spencer was standing in her large, airy kitchen holding a pan, and stirring something up that smelled heavenly. He had a towel thrown over his shoulder and had already set the table with her good silver cutlery. The room was filled with candles and her fireplace burned wildly beneath the mantle.

"I see you finally used that key I gave you for _emergencies."_

"This was an emergency. You weren't smiling." Spencer managed to get a tiny smile out of her.

"You didn't have to do all this, you know."

"I wanted to, you deserve something good today."

She loved how good he was to her. Ava thought about how she didn't appreciate him enough and all that he did for her. Ava pulled out a seat and rubbed her temples as Spencer dished out the delicious chicken parmesan. She could actually feel her stress melting away as she started laughing with him over the smallest things. Dinner finished and they sat on her couch, wrapped in blankets, sipping on Cabernet.

Ava sat with her knees pulled up on the couch, facing sideways to Spencer, her hand propping her head up on the back of the couch.

"So does this mean you're moving in?"

"Well, Hotch and Rossi certainly think it's a good idea." Spencer said cautiously, trying not to sound too forward.

"I think…" he waited anxiously for her response. "I think that would make me feel very safe." She finally said.

Spencer smiled lightly and stared into her wild green eyes, speechless. He wondered what she was like as a child, as a teenager. He's seen plenty of pictures, and in all of them she is always smiling, dancing, laughing. He still sees a lot of that in her, but he has also noticed the darkness she has gained since joining the BAU, since finding out about her stalker. And just for a second, he wasn't afraid.

He reached out his hand and just barely touched the soft skin of her cheek, allowing his fingers to travel down the side of her neck, and she couldn't deny how much she wanted it to happen. Ava closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, inching closer to him. Soon, they were glued together. Ava's knees were across Spencer's lap, blankets encircling them both, and their bodies pressed together. She could feel the warmth of his skin against hers, and Spencer couldn't help but think about the way her breathing perfectly matched his. Ava boldly reached out a trembling hand and laid it against Reid's chest, feeling the quickening beating of his heart. He swallowed his fear, and they just lingered there, breathing in each other's air, barely a centimeter between them as both contemplated the consequences of their actions. They danced around each other's lips, never actually touching, until…the moment just passed them by. Ava looked away, unable to meet his eyes.

"Let me take your glass." She said, standing and walking into the kitchen.

And once again, Reid felt powerless to stop her.

**Okay, guys! Sorry I didn't make them kiss in this chapter, but I promise it will be soon, and it will be really good! I swear, just wait for it! Thanks for reading, please review, it would mean a lot to me!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Kind of a fluffy chapter here, but I will be getting more to the case soon! And I plan on incorporating Reid's "headaches" soon!**

The morning after Spencer and Ava's dinner was a Saturday. They had both requested the day off to get Spencer moved in. No sooner had Ava just put on a pot of coffee than she heard a shuffling at her front door and Spencer walked in, carrying four different suitcases. He dropped his suitcases at the door and exhaled as he saw her standing there, adorned by the light from every angle. She wore her simple white cotton pajamas, her hair falling into her face as she fiddled with the coffee maker and set out two cups.

Spencer had never seen her apartment in the morning. It was a large, two bedroom with enormous bay windows, hard wood floors and was decorated in light colors. It matched her perfectly.

"Hey." She said faintly, her fingers tracing the rim of her coffee cup.

"Hey."

"I'm sorry." They both said at the same time. The two just smiled at one another for a minute.

"Let me give you a hand with that." Ava broke the silence.

She helped him move his bags into his room. The floor plan of her apartment was spacious. It was on the top floor of her building, and it was U-shaped. The kitchen and living room were the first rooms you saw when you walked into the apartment, and Ava's bedroom was on one side of the U, with Spencer's room directly across from hers, on the other side of the U. There were huge windows all along the halls, allowing one person to stand on one side of the apartment and be able to see the other person on the complete other side of the apartment.

The two spent their morning sipping fresh coffee and moving Reid into her-now their- apartment. Ava set up the alarm system.

"Hey, I have a surprise for you." Ava said coyly as she walked into Reid's bedroom, leaning against his doorframe, still in her pajamas. He could see she held something behind her back as he teasingly walked towards her. But the closer Spencer got to her, she stepped away even further, never breaking his gaze until she turned and broke into a run, tearing through their apartment as he gained on her. When he finally caught her, they were both hysterical.

_I caught her and held her tight as she wriggled and laughed, her body pressed into mine. I let my arms form an "X" across her middle, my index finger grazing her hipbone that just barely peeked out of her pajama bottoms. But then she pulled something out that made me freeze. _

It was a photo frame. Ava held the frame out in front of them, and Spencer stopped. In the frame was a strip of four mini-photos they had taken at a photo booth when they went to the county fair in Colorado.

"I want you to feel at home here." Ava said, staring him straight in the eye.

"Ava, I…"

"Shh." She out her finger to his lips, now turned around in his arms, leaning against a wall, with his hands on the wall on either side of her.

Ava swallowed harshly, forcing her breathing to stay normal. She reached out underneath Reid's arm and placed the frame on the demi-table behind the couch.

The home phone rang, and they both looked at it in unison.

"That's probably Hotch." Reid said, forcing himself to focus.

"We should head to the BAU."


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, guys, I'm really excited about this- I created a sort of teaser trailer on youtube to spark interest in the story! You can watch it here, and if you want to see more videos to go along with the storyline, let me know in a review! I'm going to get more into the criminal part of the story now, hope you enjoy! watch?v=nsO-50ryF7Y&feature= **

**P.S. I own nothing!**

"Okay, what is it now?"

The team looked up as Ava and Reid walked through the double glass doors of the BAU together, both holding to-go coffee cups. Morgan and Prentiss exchanged glances as they observed the pair's flirtatious behavior.

"Uh-um, well. I think we figured out the messages. The UnSub thinks she's Aphrodite." Emily said.

"Goddess of Beauty, Love, Sex. And daughter of Zeus. The all-powerful, all-knowing God, a.k.a. Jason Gideon, the brilliant, powerful profiler, making him seem invincible. In some versions of the myth, Aphrodite was born from the sea, which the UnSub associates with Ava's love of the water and her sea-green eyes. But in other versions of the myth, Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus and the Earth Goddess Dione, but Dione was said to have died early on in Aphrodite's life. And based on the profile, this killer…he's going to escalate out of control. If you deviate from his plan for you, it's going to be bloody."

Ava simply stood, deer-in-the-headlights, stunned, not sure what to do next or what to say. Spencer stood by her side, worried about how she must feel right now. He saw her eyes start to flutter, and her body grow weak. Her knees had just started buckling when Spencer wrapped a protective arm around her waist, keeping her standing.

"Maybe you should sit." Morgan offered.

"No." Reid and Ava spoke in unison.

"I'm fine. Thank you. I just, I mean, who, how, when?" she stumbled, trying to find the right words.

"The UnSub was probably involved in one of my father's cases, right? Maybe he saw a photo in his wallet or something, found out about me, and that's when the obsession began." Ava offered.

"Actually, according to our profile, the UnSub is only in his early thirties, so he would have been a young teenager, assuming the first time he saw you was the photo of you as a six-year old." Reid asserted.

"So eighteen years later brings us to now." Rossi said.

"I think we need to call him." Reid looked at Ava.

"No." she shot straight back at him.

Reid just looked at her, giving her a "you know I'm right" look.

"No!" She whined.

"Call who?" Derek asked, confused by Reid & Ava's secret language.

"No way, Spence, no. I'm not calling him. There are other ways of doing this. Garcia! We'll have her pull the records! I'm not calling him. This is just all too much!" Ava stormed out of the BAU. She needed to be alone, but before she knew it, she found herself at the same bench she & Reid frequented, and she felt anything but alone. The autumn breeze chilled her bones and made her turn around herself, only to find Reid jogging up behind her. Ava tried to walk in the other direction, but he caught up to her.

"Ava!" He caught her swiftly around the waist, but even then she struggled to push him away. But he refused to budge. He whispered "I'm only doing this because I'm trying to protect you. If anything ever happened to you, I…I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

And Ava wasn't running anymore. She wasn't fighting to push him away, she wasn't even walking and leaving him in the dust. There was a second of complete silence as Ava stared into his eyes. But before Reid knew it, Ava had her hands on either side of his face and neck and had pulled him into her. Her lips were forced against his at first, all passion, until he started kissing her back. Then her arm wrapped around his neck and they swayed gently as the kiss became the tenderest touch, him caressing her lips with his own, treasuring their taste, their texture, every second of it. Ava never believed in the "fireworks" thing, but when she kissed him, it was like dynamite was going off inside of her body while everything around them had slowed down. Then she broke away.

"Is somebody going to fill us in?" Emily asked as Ava and Reid walked back into the office.

"We need to call Gideon." Reid answered.

"Why is that a problem?" Rossi asked.

"Don't get me wrong, I love my Dad. We've always been close, he was all I had growing up. It's just that he wasn't too crazy about me joining the BAU. Actually, he tried convincing me to drop out until the day I joined the team. And I still haven't told him about this whole situation. I know that if I did, he would just come running back into the BAU, and I can't put him through all this again. He needed to leave for himself, and I can't bring him back for me."

"Got him on the phone now!" Rossi called.

"Deep breaths, count to ten." Ava repeated to herself as Spencer stood behind her chair, his hands lightly massaging her shoulders.

Soon enough, former SSA Jason Gideon was walking into the BAU, shaking hands with old coworkers, giving Penelope a hug. But his smile faded when he saw his daughter surrounded by his former team. He walked up to them and greeted each person, finally reaching his daughter. But he didn't acknowledge her. And she didn't try to meet his eyes. Jason went up to Hotch's office and spent some time with him, tracking down the case that was most likely linked to this one. The possible UnSub was the son of two victims. Both his parents were murdered in front of him. Jason was getting ready to leave, and hadn't even acknowledged his daughter yet. Ava finally couldn't handle it any more.

"Dad!" she called after him as he strode towards the door. She jogged up to him.

"Dad! I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just didn't want to give you a reason to think I can't handle myself here."

Ava obviously thought they were far enough away from the team that their conversation couldn't be heard, but in reality, the team could hear everything perfectly.

"Avangeline, do you have any idea what it's like to get a phone call from the FBI saying that the person you love most in the entire world is in trouble? That her life is dangling from a rapidly unwinding thread? This is why I didn't want you here in the first place. Not only do you have to deal with the psychological aspects of it, you are putting your life on the line for any freak to take!"

"Like you did every day of my life!" Ava yelled.

Jason slowed down, and Ava took a deep breath and calmed herself before sleeping.

"I do know what it's like to wait around, wondering if the person you love most is still alive. Dad, I spent countless nights waiting up until I saw you drive home, praying tonight wasn't the night I would lose you forever. I would run straight to my bedroom and pretend I was asleep, and do the same thing the next night. Dad, you've always been wonderful to me. I couldn't ask for anything more. It's because of you I am the person I am. You are the reason I became interested in Behavioral Analysis. And I don't blame you for it, I thank you for it. I wouldn't trade this for anything."

"I know. I know you are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. Sometimes it's just hard to remember that you're a grown woman now."

Ava smiled. " You can't protect me forever."

Jason just shook his head, "I will never stop trying to protect you, Ava."

The team watched this scene play out, then they watched Ava hug her father goodbye. She walked towards them and ignored the eyes of the team as she walked past them and straight into Spencer's arms.

**Hope you guys enjoyed! Please review and let me know about the youtube thing!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I was camping, but now I'm back with a ton of new ideas! ;) I realized the "link" I posted on the last chapter to my teaser trailer didn't work, so hopefully this will. If it doesn't though, please let me know in a review! Go to youtube, and search "Criminal Minds: Spencer Reid & Ava Gideon"**

Ava looked up from Spencer's shoulder as she heard Hotch call her into his office. She looked up at him, which she did often, considering he was 6'1 and she was only 5'7, causing the top of her head to come to about where his mouth was. Ava offered him a weak smile before detangling herself from him, their hands holding on just a little longer than they should have. She turned a shade of pink as she realized the rest of the team was staring at them. Spencer collapsed into his chair at his desk, rubbing his temples and squinting his eyes, his head was pounding. Ava couldn't even think about what the rest of the team must be thinking right now. She strode into Hotch's office and sat down. He was leafing through a file when he started talking, his eyes never leaving the paper.

"Former SSA Gideon thinks that the UnSub may be Ian Harding. He was 15 when both of his parents were murdered in front of him. The killer was never found, and that was 18 years ago."

Ava processed this for a second before speaking. "Harding. That name sounds familiar. Did the double homicide take place in the area? I remember a case where there was this teenager, and he was in the BAU for a few days, but he never even spoke. I remember because it was when my nanny got married and went on her honeymoon, so my Dad had to bring me into the BAU. I would spend my days coloring on the files and playing with the computers. And this teenager would just sit there, all day, staring at me. But he would never speak to me. He would just sit and watch me color."

"Sounds like even as a child he fits the profile. Head down to Garcia's office and see what she can pull." Hotch ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Ava playfully saluted him as she left his office. But Hotch kept his eyes on the file until she closed the door behind her. And only then did he look up at where she had just been. He leaned back in his chair, folding his hands in front of him, and lightly chuckled at the muse who had just fluttered in and out of his office.

Ava waltzed into Garcia's office light heartedly, and just as she came in, Garcia shut down all her screens at once.

"Pen, what are you working on?" she asked suspiciously, a devilish smile playing on her lips.

"Nothing." Penelope answered, eyes wide.

"Oh, really?" Ava questioned. "Well then, you wouldn't mind if I just…" Ava snuck up to Garcia's keyboard and typed in an FBI override code. And before Penelope could do anything, her screens powered up, revealing her last project.

"How did you…?" Penelope questioned.

"Eh, I did well in my computer units of FBI training." She shook it off. "What do we have here?" she leaned forward onto Garcia's desk.

"I knew I should have locked it!"

Before them, on the screen, was a picture of Reid and Ava photo-shopped into a heart.

Ava said nothing, just raised her eyebrows and smiled.

"Okay, I'm not a freak or anything!" Garcia exclaimed.

"I didn't say anything." Ava smiled and slumped into a chair next to her quirky friend and sighed.

"So are you two still cute-ing, or what?" Penelope asked.

"Are we still what?"

"Cute-ing! What? It's the verb of being cute!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, wow! Did you just make that up right now?" Ava asked.

"Maybe, for You and Lover Boy!" Garcia teased.

Garcia finally asked the one question Ava was hoping she wouldn't ask.

"So have you guys keeeeeeessed yet?" Penelope asked like a little girl at a sleepover. Ava just bit her lip and tried not to meet her eyes.

"You have! You kissed him! Ooh, I bet that was nice. Let's talk about that." She rattled off.

"Let's not. Look, I don't know what's going on right now with us. I kissed him, and it was…" she paused. "But, there are rules about relationships between agents, and even if there weren't, we live together, and as if that's not complicated enough, there is the added factor of me being stalked by an UnSub who is likely to lash out at anyone who enters 'his territory.'"

"That does make things a little bit trickier. Well, Baby Doll, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. Maybe all this is happening because you two are supposed to be together, maybe the universe is making you go through a rough patch to bring you to something amazing. Everything happens for a reason. Have faith in that."

"Thanks Pen. Thank you for being such a good friend." Ava smiled. "Oh my goodness, we haven't even done any research! " She exclaimed after checking her watch.

"Oh, don't worry about it, I've got lightning fast equipment and an even faster brain." Garcia smiled and shooed her out of her office. "Go talk to your boyfriend!" she teased as Ava walked out the door.

When Ava got back to her desk in the main office, Spencer was gone.

"He went to check out the old Harding house with Derek." Emily called out, noticing the way Ava slowed down when she walked to her desk, scanning the room.

"Oh, um, thanks." Ava somewhat awkwardly replied. _Was it that obvious?_

…..

"So what's going on with you and Little Miss Sunshine?" Derek asked as he and Reid pulled into the driveway of the Harding's house. It had been put into the possession of the government while the case was being worked, and because it was never solved, it remained in the government's possession.

"Little Miss Sunshine?" Spencer laughed at the nickname, but couldn't deny its appropriateness. "Well, I mean, she's so…full of life, she's always laughing, looking for a reason to smile. And she is so strong, with everything going on, I don't know if I could be as tough as her if the tables were turned. And not to mention she's gorgeous_ and_ brilliant- instead of walls in her living room, she has bookshelves covered with hundreds, maybe thousands of books." Spencer had to stop talking though, the light was killing his head.

"Woah, woah, kid. Hold on. I mean, I knew you guys had a thing, but there are rules about this." Morgan said, playing the older brother.

"Since when do you follow the rules?" Reid questioned.

"Just be careful, kid." Morgan advised as they walked to the door.

They had gotten a key from the local police department. The house was obviously run down after not having been cared for in eighteen years. The cheap white paint had yellowed and peeled off the grimy one story house, and as they approached, they heard the wind chime on the porch sing. But it sang a dark song, a warning.

Death was in this house.

They slowly tiptoed into the house. Even though they knew no one would be there, it always felt weird walking into someone's house without being invited in. They looked around the house, seeing it transform itself into the way it must have looked in its heyday. On the coffee table were several books laying disheveled in a pile, all of them on Greek Mythology.

"Hey, Derek, check this out." Spencer called from the bedroom. Although it had been scrubbed clean, the blood stains still showed.

"The report says that they were killed on the bed, presumably in their sleep, but there are blood stains all over the walls." Spencer recounted.

"There was a fight."

"Yeah, but there wasn't any mention of that in the file." Spencer pointed out.

"I'm sensing some sloppy police work." Morgan said.

….

Spencer rattled the apartment door open and threw his keys on the table by the door. He heard the shower running, so he didn't worry about checking on Ava just yet. Spencer collapsed onto the couch, covering his head with a pillow, and prayed this headache would pass. He kicked off his shoes and laid on the couch trying to block out the blinding light. It was like a thousand sirens screeching at him. He didn't even notice the shower stopping or Ava coming into the living room in her champagne-colored silk robe.

Ava saw Spencer curled up on the couch and quietly walked over to him. He still had the pillow clapped over his head, so she laid a hand over his, lightly prying the pillow out of his fingers. He tried to sit up, but Ava just pushed him back down on the couch. She just lightly lifted his head and slid onto the couch, laying his head on her lap. She toyed with his silky curls and thought about how dangerous this was, especially considering the thoughts she was having earlier. She knew how risky this could be for him…if Harding ever got to him…it would be disastrous. But this is just…comforting a friend. She reasoned with herself.

"What's wrong, Spence?" She whispered. "Migraine?"

"I, um…" he thought about lying to her. It's not like it would be any different from what he's been telling Rossi and Derek. But he just couldn't lie to her. "I've been having these headaches."

She slowed the twirling motions she was making in his hair. 'How often do you have them?"

"Every hour or so." He responded, trying to act casually.

"And they're bad. Like 'stop functioning' bad?"

"I guess you could say that."

"I understand if there's something you don't want to tell me. But give me a little credit. I'm a profiler too, you know."

Reid sat up then, leaning his elbows on his knees, trying to find the right words.

"My mother is a paranoid schizophrenic. I had to have her institutionalized when I was 18. It was the hardest thing I had to do. I was supposed to take care of her, but I couldn't. I was too weak. I just…gave up on her."

"Spence, you didn't give up on her. You can't help someone that doesn't want to be helped. But you're afraid because schizophrenia is genetic, and the headaches are a symptom." She read him like a book. It helped that she knew him almost as well as she knew herself.

"How is it you know so much about this?" He asked curiously.

"Well, before I started Behavioral Analysis, I was Pre-Med for two years." She said, like it was the biggest secret in the world.

Spencer laughed, "Wow! I was not expecting that!"

Ava smiled. "Let me get you something for that headache." She got up and walked over to the kitchen, searching for the right bottle. But then something caught her eye that made her blood freeze. On the photo frame that held the pictures of Spencer & Ava was written "He's Next."


	8. Chapter 8

Ava stood, frozen in time and space. Her normally vivacious eyes glazed over and filled with tears as her hands started trembling uncontrollably. She clutched the photo frame close to her and sunk down on the kitchen floor. Everything that had happened to this point was awful, but she could bear it. But this…Reid being threatened, to have him taken away from her…it's the thought that hurt the most.

"Ava? You okay in there?" Reid called from the living room, sitting up just enough to search for her over the counter.

She forced her dry mouth to form words and willed her voice not to tremble. She cleared her throat and wiped away the single tear that had spilled. She quickly took the photo out of the frame and stuck it in the back pocket of her jeans. Then using the edge of the countertop to pull herself up, she responded, "Yeah, I couldn't find the extra strength medicine." She walked over to the living room.

"You know, I'm just going to run down to the store and get a bottle. It's always important to have that around." She made up as she quickly grabbed her keys and jacket and stumbled out the front door. She hurried down the steps of her apartment building and to her faded blue 1964' Mustang. Slamming her door shut, she leaned against the steering wheel and let her body shake as the tears came down. She made awful gasping sounds like someone was stabbing her in the heart, because that's what it felt like. She let her frustration out by punching the seat furiously, making little shrieking noises with every fist until her knuckles bled.

Ava slowly gathered herself together and took the photograph out of her back pocket, rubbing at her teary eyes and forcing them to focus. Written on the back of the photograph in red lipstick were the words "Tomorrow. 11 a.m. The Beach Shack." Ava inhaled sharply and felt another course of tears spill out as her trembling hand covered her mouth. _What if I bring this in to the BAU? I could be logical, no one ever thinks of that in times like this. But he'll hurt Spencer. What am I thinking? It's Spence. I never even had a choice._

…_.._

Avangeline quietly opened the door to her apartment, not even bothering to worry about explaining her lack of a purchase. It was late, and Spencer would be in bed, especially with his headaches. Without thinking twice, she started stripping down as she made her way to her bedroom, jacket on the counter, jeans left in the hallway, button down shirt abandoned at the foot of her bedroom door. She collapsed down on her bed, covered in a white fluffy king-sized duvet, now only in her underwear and the tank top she was wearing under her button-down. Crying always made her tired. Part of the reason why she didn't make a habit of it. She gave in to the sleep as it overtook her.

Images of Spencer combined with memories of her father. In her dreamland, the UnSub was only a dark figure, but no matter what she did, she couldn't stop the dark figure from reaching Spencer. His face contorted with pain, screaming "Don't do it, Ava!" She felt as though someone were restraining her, holding her back from where she needed to be- by Spencer's side. Then redness filled her vision. Red splattered everywhere, and she couldn't hear Spencer's voice anymore.

Ava's eyes suddenly opened, gasping and panting as the world formed itself around her. She gave her brain a minute to realize it was only a dream. She turned over to check the clock on her bedside table. "2:47 a.m." She groaned and tried to close her eyes. But all she saw was Spencer's face in pain. Sitting straight up in her bed, she tossed the covers off of her and walked over to her window, the one that stared straight into Spencer's room. The room was dark. Running her fingers across her chin, she decided to take a chance. Well, not really a chance. It was just the only thing that felt right.

Still in her boyshorts and tank top, she wandered over to Spencer's room and quietly opened the door to peep inside. Spencer was asleep and resting so peacefully. The moonlight streamed perfectly onto his quiet and solemn face, and Ava couldn't help but inch closer. She stood at the edge of the bed for a few seconds, thinking about what to do next, until she decided she was tired of thinking. She reached for the edge of the duvet and pulled it open just enough for her to slide in. Spencer stirred form his sleep as Ava scooted into bed with him.

"Ava? What are you doing?" He asked, his voice deep with sleep. He pushed the hair away from his face and rubbed his eyes.

"I had a nightmare."

Spencer just nodded, knowing exactly what that meant. At some point after joining the BAU, every team member had nightmares, himself included. It just came with the job. Ava could see Spencer was sleeping in his boxer-briefs and a plain white tee. She scooted into him, his body immediately forming to hers, spooning her, his warmth enveloping her. Ava felt safe in a way that she hadn't felt since the first day she met him and he comforted her on his couch. His arm wrapped instinctually around her waist. She instantly intertwined her thin fingers with his, and both were so comfortable that deep, dreamless sleep overwhelmed them once again, the kind of sleep Spencer hadn't experienced in four years, since his own nightmares began.

….

The morning light streamed in, dancing across the couple strewn over each other in the king-sized bed. Spencer was already awake, watching as Ava peacefully slept, the gentle rise and fall of her chest, the fluttering of her eyelids as they slowly opened to meet his gaze. Spencer toyed with a curl that clung to Ava's face as a small smile played on her lips. She thought about how nice it would be to wake up next to Spencer every morning. She felt light and airy and happy staring into those hazel eyes. The air had a certain scent and flavor to it- the collision of two uniquely different scents and people mingled into one harmonious being. Two opposites that have somehow managed to coexist without destroying one another.

"Hi." Spencer whispered, his lips nuzzled against her ear.

"Hi." Ava laughed. Stretching her arms up above her, she placed a light kiss on Spencer's lips. She was perfectly blissful with him still curled around her. But her happiness was soon shattered by her realization of the day. She had an appointment with her stalker in under two hours.

In a split second, Ava's life could have gone in two different directions. In a perfect world, Ava would have stayed in Spencer's arms all day. She would have flicked pancake batter at him as they made breakfast together. She would have laughed when the unexpected rain came. She would have danced in the storm and finally taken retreat under a large oak tree, pulling him along with her. She would have responded in kind when he said the three words she had waited an eternity to hear. Her heart would have swelled with joy and beat faster than ever before.

But she went down the other path.

Instead of beating faster than ever before, her heart stopped beating altogether. Instead of responding in kind when he said those three words, she pushed him away. Instead of dancing in the rain, she ran through it. Instead of flicking pancake batter at him, she felt blood drip down her wrist. And instead of staying in Spencer's arms all day, she got out of bed.

"I, um, I have to go." She said awkwardly, standing from the bed and wrapping a sheet around herself.

"What? We just woke up. Don't you want to, I don't know, have breakfast or something?" He asked, hoping just once she would turn around from her plan and change her mind.

"I do, I do want to, I just can't today. Sorry Spence." Ava shuffled out of his room and closed the door, leaving him alone once again. As soon as she was in the hallway, she leaned her head against the wall and exhaled gruffly.

_Baby steps. You're just getting dressed. That's all. Just combing your hair. All you have to do is go downstairs and get in the car. _Ava tried to talk herself through the steps of the morning, keeping herself semi-calm. She wore a white sundress for the hot day, besides she was heading to the beach. Walking to the front door, she found Spencer standing there, waiting for her.

"Don't do it, Ava." Spencer said, the exact words form her nightmare, only in a different tone.

She just looked at him, stunned, waiting for an explanation.

"Whatever you're planning on doing, whatever is supposed to be happening today, don't do it. Don't go. Please." He pleaded with her.

"Spence, I have to do this."

A silence filled the space between them. A pause. A moment. A heartbeat. Then he spoke.

"I love that you know me. I love your facial expressions. I love the way you say my name. I love the way you _want _to tell me things. I love your smile. I love your laugh. I love that we have the same sense of humor. I love that we're on the same wavelength. I love the friendly flirting that means something so much deeper than everyone else thinks. I love our conversations. I love that you care, even if it may not be the kind of care that I want. I love that you're never awkward around me. I love the way you smell and the way it lingers on my clothes. I love how your eyes light up when you laugh. I love how you're such a geek sometimes. I love that our hands fit together perfectly. I love how you're concerned about me. I love how you make me do that cliché sigh. I love how you make me burst into fits of laughter, because you really are that funny to me. I love how you trust me. I love how we're best friends. I love that I can trust you. I love that you're close by. I love that I've been able to know you." And then, in barely a whisper, "I love you."

And the tears came down. Ava's eyes slammed shut as the tears rolled down. She had always dreamed about this, but now that it was happening right before…it was like teasing her with something she couldn't have. He came close to her and wrapped his strong, loving arms around her.

"Please, just don't do it, Ava. Just stay with me. Let me protect you. Let me save you." He said, planting a tender kiss on her forehead.

She gently laid her hands on his chest and used all her mental strength to resist him. She pushed him away just the slightest bit and detangled herself from him.

"I don't need you to save me." She said, looking him directly in the eye, his eyes now filled with tears as well. "I need you to stand beside me as I save myself." And with that, she opened the door and walked out to meet the UnSub. But halfway down the hallway, she stopped. This might be the last time she sees him. She quickly turned away and stormed through the door, finding Spencer exactly where she left him. She ran straight to him and grabbed him, crashing her mouth into his. And when the kiss was over, she ran her fingers ever so lightly across his lips, treasuring every second, memorizing his face.

Then she turned away once more.


	9. Chapter 9

**The revised chapter! Thank you for reading everybody, hopefully this chapter will be worth the wait. * I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.* (I do, however, own Ava Gideon, she is an original character and therefore all mine.) **

Ava turned to walk out the apartment door the second time. She had kissed Spencer goodbye, and now just had to keep herself strong. She ran out the doors of the apartment building, sharply inhaling the biting morning air. She leaned against the building and willed her brain to focus. But she couldn't. She knew she had to say it. If not to him, then at least just to get out. She whispered to the morning air "I love you too." But all she found in response was the cold, unloving whistling of the morning air.

Ava really should have known better, but her brain was too clouded to think straight. Spencer would never just let her walk out the door to her death. So he ran to his car as soon as she left to tail her.

Ava silently contemplated their situation as she drove. Hotch had put him in charge of her safety. Who knows why? Maybe Hotch had always known Spencer was the only one who could ever really save Ava. Actually, if Hotch had it his way, Ava would be in protective custody, but even he had to admit that this UnSub seemed to notice every move Ava made. And if she were to disappear, it would cause a major psychological break, resulting in more murders. Ava was very specific about how she didn't want any fuss made over this. She distanced herself from her father, trying to keep him out of it as much as possible (despite the constant phone calls), and Hotch eventually agreed to not be too obsessive in front of her. But she never knew how he poured over the case file hundreds of times, looking for something that would keep her with them, keep her safe.

….

It was oddly nostalgic driving through her old hometown. It was a small town in Virginia near the water. Ava hadn't been back home in years. Her father had moved out of her childhood home after Ava started college, and Jason Gideon had moved to Washington D.C. She couldn't decide if it was being back home again or meeting with her stalker that was putting her on edge. She drove past the old oak tree she fell out of when she was eight and broke her arm. She saw the corner shop where she would go out for sundaes after school with her friends. She noticed the school yard where she had her first kiss…and instantly thought of Spencer. If she had it her way, he would be her last first kiss ever. Before she could allow her mind to wander too far with that thought, she drove into the beach parking lot. Stepping out of the car and onto the sand, she took off her sandals and felt the sand between her toes, treasuring the feeling of freedom while she could. The waves rolled in and out constantly, mimicking the rolling on of time, of life itself. She checked her watch. "10:56 a.m." She slowly walked towards The Beach Shack. It was literally a shack where ice cream was sold, a place Jason and Ava frequented throughout her childhood. She sat at the stool covered in faded pink material, tracing the tabletop carved with various initials, lovers' messages. The server came up to her and asked to take her order. She hesitated, but decided to order for old times' sake. She got the same thing throughout her entire childhood.

"I'll have a-"

"Chocolate ice cream on a cone." A foreign voice finished her sentence.

Ava froze. This was the man that had watched her entire life unravel. She leaned forward, attempting to get a glimpse at him. She expected to find a dark-clothed man, wearing a hoodie or a hockey mask. But he was none of these things. He was simply and casually dressed, wearing jeans and a short-sleeved button down. He looked perfectly normal. And that was terrifying.

"You." She said, unsure what to do or say.

"Walk with me." He said, pretending it was a question when they both knew it was an order. He offered her his hand, and she solemnly took it, clearing out of the shack before the server could return.

He led her out to the beach, and they walked together like anyone else, until he spoke.

Harding was just staring at the hem of her white dress caught in the wind.

"You are so beautiful." He reached out to touch the bare skin of her shoulder, but she quickly and thoughtlessly cringed and pulled away. This was the wrong response. Harding quickly grabbed her by the arm, leaving fingerprints that would bruise, marking her just like he wanted.

"Walk." He ordered. And for the first time in her life, Ava felt subdued, powerless. So she did as she was told.

They walked in silence, Harding keeping his grip on Ava's arm firm. Finally, Ava chanced a question.

"Why?" She asked intently.

"Excuse me?"

"Why? What do you want from me? I have nothing to offer you. What could you possibly gain from me? And why would you hurt all those people? Or Spencer?"

"How could you not know?" He snapped, whipping her in front of him. "You are my life, my love, my means of salvation. How could you choose him over me? You're supposed to be with me! I'm the one that has done everything for you, I'm the one that has loved you your entire life!" He squeezed her arm tighter. But Ava noticed something. He became more fierce when professing his love for her, not when accusing her of loving Spencer. While Ava was deep in thought over this, she made the mistake of letting her guard down for just a second. And just a second was all it took for Harding to gain an edge on her. He quickly punched her across the face, bloodying her lip just the slightest bit. And when Ava looked at him, he just looked back at her, mesmerized, loving, smiling.

Her pain was giving him pleasure. Textbook sadist. What made him like this?

By this time, they were nearing the end of the beach trail. Behind them was a dingy, abandoned cabin. Although everything was telling her not to go with him, Ava pushed the thought to the back of her head and continued on with her mission. He led her to the shack, pushing her down on a crate covered in old fish netting. He paced the floor, muttering things to himself, trying to make up his mind. Ava used this opportunity to take advantage of his weakness. It would be the best time to get answers out of him.

"Did you know my father?"

He continued to pace the floor, paying little attention to her. "Yes, he's good. I always found it interesting that the all-powerful Jason Gideon, the avenger of the innocent, would name his daughter "Avangeline", meaning 'avenger of angels'."

"What about your parents?" She asked.

"They loved me. They loved each other, the way I love you."

And then it clicked.

"They were both sadists. Love became synonymous with pain. They beat each other just as much as they beat you. Then one day, they took their 'love' too far…and killed each other. That's why a killer was never found. They did it, and you watched the whole thing."

Harding finally stopped. There was fire in his eyes. And ice filled Ava's veins. He lunged toward her, and in one swift movement, he grabbed her by the throat. He didn't have a hold on her for long, though. Ava was a trained FBI Agent. In 10 seconds she had him on the ground with her foot about to crush his windpipe. But then she heard him squeak out,

"I'll kill him." _Spencer. _ The thought of Spencer being harmed is what threw Ava off guard. She momentarily lost her focus, and gave Harding the upper hand.

He had her pinned against the crate once more.

"I didn't want to hurt you. I just wanted to love you. But he got in the way. You refused to follow my plan. Why couldn't you just be with me? I'll give you a choice: him or you." She struggled against his weight, but he was too heavy for her. Before she could think, he whipped a knife out of his pocket and held it against her throat. Ava struggled and pushed against him, trying to force him away, but all she could think of was Spencer. As he choked her, images of Spencer filled her head, and she couldn't think straight, focus on how to defend herself. She searched for something to use in her defense, feeling around the floor as she struggled for her last few gasps of air. Her hand finally grasped a vase lying on the floor, and she quickly smashed it into his skull, shattering the vase into a million pieces. Air filled her lungs as she came to.

"Now I'm going to make it hurt." He said, his head bloodied.

He took the knife to her head, carefully lining up the tip to her hairline, just slightly to the right of the center. And all of a sudden, a blinding pain as he sliced a small incision on her forehead. Ava felt blood dripping down into her eye as she squirmed. He caught her hands, and slowly, torturously slit both of her wrists.

"You could have chosen me." He said, as he left her in the shack to bleed out.

Ava felt herself slipping slowly into oblivion. She thought of Spencer, trying to force herself to focus on the good things, in her last moments of thought. And finally, as she felt the drops of blood crawling down her wrists, pooling beside her, blackness filled her vision, and she had the incessant feeling of falling deep, deep under. Her once white dress was now mostly red, drenched in her blood.

She was only vaguely aware of pressure being applied to her wrists, strong hands pumping at her chest, trying to resuscitate her. It was Spencer. He was here now, the tears streaming down his face. He held her wrists tight, trying to stop the bleeding, his body stretched over hers.

"No, please, please, Ava, just stay with me…" He pleaded for the second time that day. The paramedics were on their way, but Spencer couldn't shake the overwhelming fear they wouldn't make it in time.

Spencer kept praying for her eyes to open, to tell him everything was going to be alright. But they didn't. Ava slipped further and further into unconsciousness. As the paramedics finally arrived, and they had to forcibly remove Spencer from putting pressure on her wrists, Ava's heartbeat slowed. Dying down to that of a whisper. To a breath. To a nothing.


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay guys! Here it is, the chapter you've been waiting for- the moment that changes both of their lives forever. * I own nothing***

Bright lights. Flashing. Heat. Electricity. Spencer.

These are the images that flew through Ava's brain as she was loaded into the ambulance, Spencer still holding her hand. He had to be forcibly extracted from her, but was allowed to stay in the ambulance with her. When they first got her hooked up to the heart monitor, her heart showed close to no activity. The first thing Ava felt was the hot electricity of paddles being applied to her chest. They had to charge her twice before there was any response, but finally, she gasped, her lungs filling with the treasured air. Her eyes fluttered open, rolling uncontrollably before closing again. But that was enough to give Spencer hope. Her eyes opened, she wasn't dead yet. Her eyes continued to open and close, trying to find a comfortable middle ground between open and closed, life and death. The few images her brain processed were of bright, whirring lights at the top of the ambulance, of masks being placed over her mouth, paramedics trying desperately to restore her wrists, and of course, of Spencer.

"She would have died a long time ago if it weren't for you." She heard a paramedic say to Spencer.

When Ava was finally rushed into the hospital, she flat-lined for ten seconds straight, almost crushing all hopes of her return. But she did resurface once more. Ten and a half hours and 4 vein repair and microsuture surgeries later, the young female doctor approached Spencer in the waiting room. He sat with his head in his hands, leg shaking up and down, anxiously waiting for the news. Spencer had been there the whole time, never leaving the waiting room. The whole team had been there, hoping and praying for Ava's recovery. Young and attractive, the female resident came out to greet the team, obviously flirting with Spencer as she came up to him.

"Um, family of SSA Avangeline Gideon?" the surgical resident asked as she walked up to the team. They all stood and prepared themselves for the news.

"Yes!" Spencer, Hotch, Derek, Penelope and Jason Gideon answered. Prentiss and JJ were following Hotch's orders, trying to find Harding before he got too far.

"Um…blood and marriage relations only, please." The resident asked, overwhelmed by the amount of people wanting information about this girl.

Jason looked at Spencer, putting a hand on his shoulder as the rest of the team backed away. The resident looked at Spencer suspiciously.

"He's family." Jason answered, noticing the immediate frown on her face when she realized why Spencer wasn't responding to her flirtatious behavior.

"Okay, well, after many hours of surgery, and many close calls, we were able to cauterize her veins using microsurgery and microsutures, because thankfully, her cuts weren't too deep."

"So, she's going to live?" Jason asked hopefully.

"It's really just a waiting game at this point." The resident smiled. "You can come see her now."

Hotchner and Morgan exchanged glances when the resident referred to Ava's condition as "a game." But they came to a silent mutual agreement that an FBI shooting wouldn't be the best solution right now.

…

It was like the first time he saw her.

He was surprised at how normal she looked. Avangeline lay on the hospital bed, skin paler than usual, sutures on her forehead, but still, she was Ava. She was sleeping peacefully, her heartbeat finally stabilized. Spencer slowly approached her bedside, tenderly taking her hand in his. The sight of bandages over both her wrists tugged at his heart. Spencer stood to one side of her bed while her father stood on the other side, moving one of her more ringlet-like curls away from her face, just like when she was a little girl.

"My baby girl…" Jason's voice trailed off. Spencer had so much respect for Gideon when they worked together, but after knowing and loving Ava, and watching Gideon with his daughter, Spencer had an even more profound esteem for him. In all the three months Spencer had been dealing with the ups and down of life with Ava, he had never stopped to think about what this must be doing to her father. He could see him crumbling now, falling fast into a tearful state as he looked upon her sleeping, angelic face.

"I'm so sorry, Ava…" Jason wept over his daughter.

….

Butterflies. Butterflies danced across her eyes as they slowly fluttered open. But they weren't butterflies at all, they were her eyelashes. Ava slowly became aware of herself, of her surroundings. She turned her head slightly, the braid Garcia made trailing over her shoulder. Seeing the morning light stream through the blinds of her hospital room, her eyes finally settled on something that made her smile. Spencer had his head down on her bed, his fingers still interlaced with hers. Ava smiled and lightly placed her IV-connected hand on his head just at the moment he stirred. Spencer stood immediately, leaning over her.

"You're awake!" he laughed.

"Looks like it. How long have I been out for?" She asked, her voice still groggy.

Spencer paused before answering. "Two and a half days." Ava nodded solemnly before speaking.

"I'm sorry, Spence."

"Ava, don't. I found the note, I understand. If anything, I should be thanking you. If you didn't go…I wouldn't be here now."

Ava paused before speaking.

"Tell me again." She brought her eyes up to meet his gaze.

Spencer looked at her quizzically. "What?"

"Please tell me again." She persisted. Slowly, recognition enveloped him. He smiled and put one hand around the back of her pillow and the other on the railing on the opposite side of her bed, leaning over her. His face lingered only a few inches away from hers.

"I love you."

And finally, Ava could say it to him. Everything she wanted to say before. She looked down at her hands and smiled, her eyes filling with tears. She bit her bottom lip sheepishly, and finally met his gaze, staring deep into those hazel eyes that had watched over her, protected her, cared for her.

"I love you back." And suddenly, a tear-filled giggle escaped her smile. Spencer wiped a tear away from her cheek, wrapping his hand around the back of her neck and pulling her lips to his.

Hotch stood outside Ava's room, arms folded across his chest as he watched the scene play out between Ava and Reid through the blinds. Hotch knew he would have to talk to them about this, but just for right now, he decided they had been through so much that they deserved some happiness. For just a moment, Spencer and Ava were happy together. Emily walked up to Hotch.

"Bad news, Hotch. We have no idea where Harding is."

Hotch shook his head. "He's in love with her. But he's also angry and hurt. He's going to make sure she died. He'll be back." For now, they just had to wait. Jason Gideon walked up to the door, peeking through the blinds at his daughter, who was now in between kisses.

"Guess I have a lot more on my hands than I thought." He commented to Hotch as he entered the room.

"Glad to see you're up! How are you feeling, honey?"

"Hi, Dad. I'm feeling pretty good right now. How's everything in the real world?" Ava answered as Spencer sat back down in his chair next to her bed.

"Oh, you know, the usual…" Jason trailed off, wondering if he should just come straight out with it.

"So, what exactly is going on with you two? I mean, I noticed the flirting and all the signs and everything, but…" He asked carefully, eyeing the both of them. _Oh great. The "meet the parents" interrogation comes while I'm still in the hospital._ Ava thought.

"Dad-"

"Actually, you know what? Ava, you're a grown woman. You can be with whoever you want. But I'm glad you've chosen someone I know will never break your heart. Just both of you need to be careful. You know the rules about relationships between agents."

"Thank you, Dad." Ava said as Jason came over to her bedside and placed a kiss on her forehead, and then exited the room.

"Glad to see you're doing better, sweetheart."

Ava and Spencer exchanged glances as they both exhaled. Ava couldn't help but burst out into laughter. She spent the last two days under intensive care, and _this_ was stressing her out? Soon, her laughter affected Spencer, and both were laughing over nothing, because it felt better to laugh then have to face the coming reality.


End file.
